Basically its used to measure your ability to reason. (So its not a language test and no its not okay -- a low verbal score cannot be replaced by a high TOEFL or IELTS score).
This is the most trickiest part of the whole of GRE. If it sounds like Greek and Latin to you don't worry you are not alone. ETS intends to scare everyone with that section. Besides scoring a full on verbal section is only luck and does not prove much so grad school don't ask for ridiculously high scores on verbal just upto a 500(well thats a decent score) or so (400+ might suffice some univs). But if you think you can score more then by all means go ahead.
Okay the first thing you'll need to know about GRE VERBAL IS ITS A COMPUTER ADAPTIVE TEST(CAT). Which means it adapts to your level of expertise in the subject and scores you based on that.
How GRE CAT works?
When you start you are given a mid-level(on a scale of 800 its 400) question. If you get that right you move to a higher-level question. If you get that wrong you move to a lower level question.
How do you use GRE CAT to your advantage?
So its better to get the first few questions right always. you might have heard this a number of times but must have not known what it meant then. Here I'll show you.
Excuse me for the blue progress line I guess it does not fall so much but you get the point don't you? If not leave a comment I'll help. And also the start point is 400 not 500 sorry.
And its always easy in the beginning. So slow down on the first 10-15 questions and work carefully. Remember the last 5 questions or so don't effect your score much but do answer all the questions. Leaving them unanswered will cause a drastic downfall of your score YES! So keep an eye on the time too!
The second thing you need to know is Verbal is all about vocab so find as many ways as you can to improve your vocab. And also its not easy to do so in a week so give urself a few months of prepn yes few months! What works for some might not for others so device ur own methods to learn vocab. Mnemonics work well for plenty of people... Works for me.... Then there are word-webs ( http://www.visualthesaurus.com (u donot need to buy u can make ur own)). Picture dictionary ( there a few picture dict blogs on the net plz search). Then the flash cards technique (plz make ur own that way you learn more)
After you've done all this go back to GRE blogs on the net which put in vocabulary asked in the recent GRE tests ( Might help to some extent but don't entirely rely only on these recent words)
Moving onto what you'll find in the verbal section:
You find four types of questions:
1) Analogies: Are questions like
BIRD:NEST as
a)Tiger:Zoo
b)Lion:Den(answer)
c)Fish:Water
d)Fish:Aquarium
e)Parrot:Cage
That was a simple one but the ones on real GRE are not so easy.
Look for a noun in the answer if question is a noun and adj in the answer if question is adj and so on....
2) Antonyms
opposite of craven
a)Pusillanimous
b)brassy(answer)
c)Timorous
d)Cantankerous
e)Aversion
Compare the answer choices with the question choose one that is directly opposite.
If you can't eliminate as many answer choices and guess from the rest.
3) Sentence completion:
Scientific inventions in the past were ___ not only coz they were inchoate but also coz they were what everyone else thought ____
a)Balderdash:extrinsic
b)redoubtable:implausible(answer)
c)uncanny:marvelous
d)astonishing:acquiescing
e)inimical: haphazard
Each of these choices might seem right or one word might seem a perfect fit while the other blank doesn't make sense
So here's what you do.... Read the sentence with no choices don't move to the choices yet. You might come up with your own words to complete the sentence. Use these words to pick out the choice that most agrees with ur words.
If you still cannot... Just remember ETS sorta never gives a sentence that sounds negative... So however stupid ur answer might seem go with the positive sounding answer.
The last reading comprehension... As the name suggests you answer as u understand the passage. So ETS makes it as not comprehensible as possible. So what YOU need to do is break it down into simpler meanings and choose the answers accordingly.
Edit:
Be sure to read the comments on this post too...
And plz post your doubts too... We're here to help you learn.
